Metamorphic Evolution of Garnet‐Bearing Mafic Granulites From the Eastern Margin of Ramakona–Katangi Granulite Belt in the Central Indian Tectonic Zone, India

Mafic granulites from Precambrian terranes offer important insights into orogenic history and crustal evolution. In this study, we investigate garnet‐bearing mafic granulite from the eastern extension of the Ramakona–Katangi granulite (RKG) belt, in the Sausar Mobile belt of the southern part of the Central Indian Tectonic Zone, India. The mineral assemblage in these rocks is characterised by garnet‐orthopyroxene‐clinopyroxene‐amphibole‐plagioclase ±quartz ±ilmenite. Textural relationship and Pressure–Temperature ( P–T ) estimates suggest three distinct stages of the evolution of garnet‐bearing mafic granulite, namely (i) P‐max represented by assemblage garnet‐clinopyroxene‐plagioclase±quartz±ilmenite at 8.8 kbar, 862°C; (ii) T‐max or thermal peak represented by garnet‐orthopyroxene‐clinopyroxene‐plagioclase±ilmenite estimate at 7.6 kbar, 938°C and (iii) retrograde P–T conditions of post‐peak low‐pressure assemblage represented by amphibole‐orthopyroxene‐clinopyroxene‐plagioclase‐ilmenite at < 4.4 kbar, < 760°C, that follow a clockwise path. U–Pb zircon ages show that the magmatic zircon age is 1664 ± 53 Ma and metamorphic zircon ages are 1541 ± 28 Ma, coinciding with the major metamorphic events in the RKG belt. Magmatic activity that generated the protolith of these rocks is dated as 1717–1611 Ma, while the peak granulite metamorphism occurred at 1569–1513 Ma, followed by a decompression event. A thermal overprint and granulite event occurred during the Late Paleoproterozoic to Early Mesoproterozoic, leading to Pb loss in the zircon grains. The potential timeframe for the collisional amalgamation of the primary crustal segments within the Sausar Mobile Belt of the CITZ is estimated to have occurred between 1652 and 1541 Ma.